The present embodiments relate to preparation of a scan protocol of a medical imaging apparatus.
Imaging methods are important aids in medical technology. For example, in clinical sectional imaging, magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) is distinguished by high and variable soft tissue contrast levels. Depending on scan parameters such as echo time, repetition time, prepulses, and sequence types, the most diverse contrasts, such as T1 or T2-weighting or susceptibility weighting, may be set. In addition, the image field, resolution, and slice thickness may be set. Also in other modalities, particular setting values (e.g., tube current and tube voltage in computed tomography (CT)) influence the quality of the resulting images. The complete set of parameter settings is known as the scan protocol.
The setting of scan parameters of a scan protocol is carried out by an existing scan protocol being provided to a user, for example, by the user opening a scan protocol file on a control unit. The user receives direct access to all the adjustable scan parameters. The user may then change the values of the scan parameters (e.g., the scan parameter values in any desired sequence) and as often as desired. After changing one of the scan parameter values, any scan parameter values that are dependent on the changed scan parameter values are calculated anew and presented. Due to the complexity of the parameterization, this often leads to results that are confusing to the user.